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Banks in the U.S. reported making $1.53 trillion worth of commercial and industrial loans in this year's first quarter, a 12% increase over the figure for the same quarter in 2012. Analyst and bankers say the lending surge looks more like the beginning of an asset bubble than an acceleration in the growth of the nation's economy. Mariner Kemper, chairman of UMB Financial, said there is a deterioration in loan terms and pricing "that's potentially the kind of behavior that drives a crisis."

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The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is putting the finishing touches on a rule that gives the agency oversight of nonbank servicers of student loans, Director Richard Cordray says. The CFPB says student loan debt sits at $1.2 trillion, and Cordray added that the problems faced by borrowers "bear a striking resemblance to the problems faced by homeowners in the run-up to the financial crisis."

The overnight general collateral repo rate last week dropped below zero for the first time since 2011, indicating that money market funds must pay banks to lend them money. Some analysts attribute the decrease to the Federal Reserve's asset-purchasing program. "The ability of private credit markets to deliver oxygen to the real economy is being hampered, because most new Treasurys wind up in the dungeon of the Fed's balance sheet," said Bill Gross, managing director of Pacific Investment Management.

Commerce Bancshares is among a number of banks that decided against accepting help through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, despite urging from U.S. regulators. "It was one of the best decisions of my adult life to say no to TARP," said David Kemper, CEO of Commerce Bancshares. "We never seriously considered taking bailout funds."

Two Kansas-based banks landed in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in Forbes magazine's ratings of the top 100 banks. "There's something in the water here," said J. Mariner Kemper, CEO of second-ranked UMB Financial. Kemper's cousin, David Kemper, is CEO of Commerce Bank, which came in third on the list. Both banks have conservative lending strategies and work to develop strong managers. "My father always says banking should be a boring business," says John Kemper, David Kemper's son and Commerce Bank's strategic planning director.